Tchaikovsky initially disliked the combination of piano, violin, and cello, finding it a "torture" to his ears, and had refused to write a piano trio for his patroness Nadezhda von Meck.
Instruments
Jean-Marc Phillips-Varjabédian, the violinist of Trio Wanderer, plays a violin made by Petrus Guarnerius in Venice in 1748.
Compositional Technique
Tchaikovsky's Piano Trio features a second movement that is a set of variations and a finale combined, based on a simple, folksong-like motif.
Composition History
Arensky's First Piano Trio was written in memory of Karl Yulyevich Davydov, a virtuoso cellist and professor at the St Petersburg Conservatory, whom Arensky admired.
Performer Biography
The Trio Wanderer, formed by graduates of the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary in 2012.
Composition History
Both piano trios on this recording were written in memory of a great artist, serving as "epitaphs in sound."
Composition History
Tchaikovsky's Piano Trio was composed to honor Nikolay Grigoryevich Rubinstein, a virtuoso pianist who had brought Tchaikovsky to Moscow and housed him.
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